Pro Tier Module
PE Waterfall Distribution Calculator
Split a fund distribution through the four-tier waterfall, exact to the penny, with every LPA term surfaced.
See it run - a worked example, 100% in this browser tab
The problem
Fund accountants, LPs, GPs, and counsel must split distributions per the LPA, but the four-tier waterfall is error-prone and tools rarely show which rates and conventions drove the result.
The local-first solution
This plugin cascades a distribution through the canonical four tiers as exact decimal arithmetic that reconciles to the penny, citing each tier to ILPA or Metrick and Yasuda and surfacing every rate it used. It runs entirely in the browser with nothing uploaded.
What it does
Tier 1 return of capital, with optional inclusion of fees and expenses
Tier 2 preferred return as either simple interest or annual compounding
Tier 3 GP catch-up trued up to the target carry on profit
Tier 4 carried-interest split (commonly 80/20)
Per-tier LP and GP allocation with cited references and full totals
Reconciliation identities (LP + GP equals total; GP carry equals carry% of profit)
Honest scope
Every tier allocation, the catch-up true-up, the carry split, and the totals are exact decimal arithmetic that reconciles to the penny; the pref rate, catch-up rate, carry %, compounding convention, and ROC scope are LPA terms you confirm, with the defaults shown as common-market convention, not law. American deal-by-deal timing, GP clawback, fee waterfalls, tax distributions, recycling, multi-tier hurdles, and side-letter economics are not modeled - the controlling document is the LPA, and this is not legal, tax, or investment advice.
Authorities cited
- ILPA (Institutional Limited Partners Association) Private Equity Principles 3.0 - Distribution Waterfall and GP Catch-Up: the ordered ROC -> preferred return -> GP catch-up -> carried-interest split structure and the catch-up true-up to the GP target carry.
- A. Metrick & A. Yasuda, "Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation," 2nd ed. (Wiley, 2011), Ch. 2 - carried interest, the preferred return / hurdle, and the GP catch-up arithmetic (the "2-and-20" convention).
- NVCA (National Venture Capital Association) Model Limited Partnership Agreement - the model distribution provisions for return of capital, preferred return, GP catch-up, and the carried-interest split.
- Fenwick & West / NVCA fund-formation practice notes - American (deal-by-deal) vs European (whole-fund) waterfalls and the GP clawback obligation that backstops deal-by-deal carry.
- Catch-up identity (full 100% catch-up, carry c on the pref + catch-up profit pool): gpCatchup / (pref + gpCatchup) = c => gpCatchup = pref * c / (1 - c). Carried-interest split: residual * (1 - c) to LP, residual * c to GP.
- Preferred-return accrual: simple = capital * rate * years; annual compounding = capital * ((1 + rate)^years - 1). Convention is LPA-specific; both are provided as a confirmed input.
Run the waterfall now
Compute the split in the browser and route results into a Sandbox workspace, a Worklog case, or a Gate client portal. Nothing is uploaded to anyone's cloud.